the who

   This was the final concert of The Who's world tour and was recorded in November 2000 at The Royal Albert Hall in London. The proceeds of the concert went to the Teenage Cancer Trust and many of the affected teenagers themselves were present. This obviously did not register on the mind of Pete Townshend who continually tells the audience to "fuck off". Maybe he's still trying to play the angry young man, unfortunately it doesn't work at his age. (Actually I'm surprised anything still works at his age).

    Musically this is a problem for me, The Who were always one of my hero bands of the 60's and 70's and on first listening I thought the performance was great. I then allowed a friend of mine to take it home for a good workout - he just happens to be a musician of some standing (or sitting these days) as he used to play in a band with Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones. His critique of the performance was viewed without my rose coloured glasses and he pointed out the many notes that both Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend failed to reach. On second listening I had to agree with him.

    The addition of various guests in the guise of Nigel Kennedy, Brian Adams, Noel Gallagher, Kelly Jones, Eddie Veddar and Paul Weller helped alleviate Townsend's rantings and added a bit of colour to offset the off colour. Unfortunately, there seemed to be little in the way of rehearsal time for these guests so the results are not as good as their talents would indicate.

    John Entwistle looks as if he'd rather be elsewhere which is a great waste for the guy voted "Best Bass Guitarist of the Millennium"  His playing is as good as ever but there is little enthusiasm in this performance and the bass is mixed well back in the overall sound. The drummer is Zac Starkey (yes, Ringo's son) and applies himself credibly if not as erratic and exciting as Peter Moon.

    As I said, tough call to rate this DVD. The guests spoil the true "Who-ness" of the concert so you wouldn't buy it as a definitive "Who" performance. The sound quality is good except the bass is too laid back. Mix is in Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 and PCM Stereo. I've watched it twice and will probably now relegate it to my pile of DVD prizes to be given away at a later date.

Audio 4 out of 5

Video 4 out of 5

Content 3.5 out of 5